GOP Newcomer Flips 139-Year Democrat Seat in Texas, 53-47
Texas voters flipped a Democrat district red for the first time in 139 years with the election of political newcomer Pete Flores to the Texas Senate.
Flores, a retired game warden, defeated former state and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego for the Senate District 19 seat after receiving key endorsements from political figures such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, according to My San Antonio.
Flores recognized his historic win in his victory speech.
“This district has not been Republican since Reconstruction. And in September of 2018, it’s Republican once again,” Flores said. “The work starts tomorrow.”
We did it!
Pete Flores 53%
Pete Gallego 47%Thank you to 23k+ #sd19 voters!
Thank you to everyone who helped, especially @GregAbbott_TX, @DanPatrick, @NRA, @TXRightToLife and so many more!#sd19 #txlege pic.twitter.com/XJLhvPMust
— Senator Pete Flores District 24 (@PeteFlores_TX) September 19, 2018
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also shared his joy after the win.
“Tonight, you all just made history,” Patrick told Republican voters. “For the first time in history, we have 21 Republican senators. For the first time in history, we have a Hispanic Republican senator.”
The left’s confidence in a “blue wave” of Democrat victories might be shaken by Flores’ historic win, especially with Texas being a key part of the Democrats’ midterm hopes.
The U.S. Senate race in Texas between Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O’Rourke is important for the success of the blue wave, according to Axios, which also named Texas’ 23rd Congressional District race as a key blue wave battleground.
Unfortunately for Democrats, the historic win for Republicans in District 19 shows that the Texas GOP may be more energized than they hope. Obviously, turnout of Republicans and other Trump voters in November will be essential if the president’s supporters hope to prevent a blue wave from becoming reality.
Even Christian Archer, the campaign strategist for Gallego, said he was shocked by the results, and added that they couldn’t generate as much excitement as the Republicans.
Regardless, liberals remain insistent that a blue wave is coming in November — and some Republicans, including The Western Journal’s commentator Dick Morris, have been expressing concern.
“The Democrat edge has clearly grown in the past two weeks and now is at about the level it was in 2006 when the Democrats took away both houses of Congress,” he wrote earlier this month. “The question is: What should we do about it?”
CNN political commentator Chris Cillizza said last week that “all signs point to a blue wave,” and even the GOP’s internal polling, recently leaked, shows trouble in November for House Republicans — which in turn could spell trouble for President Donald’s Trump’s agenda, at least until the 2020 election.
As I’ve been saying, conservatives better wake the hell up! https://t.co/mpw6fEMrU1
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) September 18, 2018
If the GOP loses the House in 2018, it will be two long years of nothing but pointless (and largely fruitless) committee investigations.
If you support @realDonaldTrump’s agenda, vote GOP in November, even if you don’t love the candidate… and bring a friend who’ll do the same.
— The Upper Cut (@georgeupper) September 7, 2018
Of course, time will tell if a blue wave is really coming, but one thing is clear: The only hope Trump supporters have of furthering the president’s agenda for the next two years lies in getting out to the polls in November and voting against Democrat candidates for the House.
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